A model wearing a product from from local company Extendher.
Photo provided.

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y.>> Local business Extendher recently won a regional round of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s InnovateHER 2017 Challenge, a competition searching for innovative products and services that impact and empower the lives of women and families.

Launched in 2015, InnovateHER provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs throughout the country to showcase products and services that have a measurable impact on the lives of women and families, have the potential for commercialization and fill a need in the marketplace.

In the most recent Capital Region competition, hosted by the The Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region and the Albany Center for Economic Success, Clifton Park-based business Extendher came out on top.

Owners Maria Messier of Clifton Park and Joanne Frank of Rotterdam proved to the contest judges through their pitch presentation that Extendher’s innovative dual purpose product has great potential.

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Created locally and now manufactured in Troy, the extendher is a patent-pending clip-on maternity panel that can also be used while babywearing as a jacket extender panel cover, when carrying a baby in a front carrier.

This garment was developed as a joint venture between Messier and her aunt, Frank, over the last few years.

The idea came from Messier when she was pregnant with her second child in the cold winter months of 2012. “I was very frustrated because I could not fit into my winter coat, and it was freezing,” she said. “So, the idea just sort of came to me. Why not create a panel that would expand with your growing belly, that could clip onto your coat?”

After having her new baby, the thought kind of slipped to the back of her mind, but then by the following winter she was pregnant again, this time with twins. So, the idea came back to Messier and she decided to share it with her aunt, who has more than 40 years of fashion design experience in the manufacturing industry.

Frank was looking for her next design venture just as her niece was seeking a solution to a problem, and Frank immediately thought this would be a successful product.

When Frank created the first prototype, she realized that the product could also be used along with a front babywearing carrier as a babywearing cover when it was inverted.

This second function also makes the product wearable for dads, grandparents, babysitters or anyone wanting to wear the new baby. The product slogan is “ready to wear, easy to share.”

In March 2015, the family members became business partners when they officially created Extendher, LLC.

The Extendher products are now manufactured in Troy at longtime business Standard Manufacturing Co., located in the city’s Lansingburgh neighborhood.

Extendher’s biggest break came a few weeks ago when the women entrepreneurs competed and took first place in the InnovateHER 2017 Challenge in the Capital Region, winning a $1,700 monetary prize donated by Key Bank.

Messier said the contest’s mission spoke to them, so they entered along with 11 other companies who made seven-minute pitches and submitted business plans in hopes of taking the title.

“When you grow something like this, bringing it from the ground up - we’re passionate about it. So it was pretty easy to speak about,” Messier said. “We’re passionate about it so it’s very easy to explain and discuss.”

When the local business owners learned they had won, Frank said she was elated. “I got chills,” she recalled.

For the next step, Extendher is perfecting its business plan, which will be submitted in the national semi-final round.

From there, 10 winners will be selected to advance to the finals, for which they will be invited to make a live marketing pitch to a panel of expert judges this September in Washington D.C.

The Extendher owners are hoping to be among these finalists, who will compete for three cash prizes of $40,000, $20,000 or $10,000.

With the competition aside, the duo’s goal is to continue growing their business each year and expand Extendher’s product line to include more summer products, making it a strong year-round business.

More information on Extendher and its products is available at www.theextendher.com or www.facebook.com/extendher.

Products can be purchased locally at The Bundle Store in Clifton Park, or online through the company website and other outlets.